Safari to Pench

one of the original settings for The Jungle Book

Pench National Park is located in the south of Madhya Pradesh in Central India, roughly 800 km (500 miles) from New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.

Originally established as a wildlife sanctuary in 1965, the Pench Tiger Reserve was established in its present form in 1992 and now extends over a modest 299 sq km (115 sq miles). However, when you include the surrounding buffer zones, that area increases to a more respectable 464 sq km (179 sq miles).

This pretty little reserve (along with the nearby Kanha National Park) is said to have been the setting for Rudyard Kipling’s ‘The Jungle Book’ and some of the lower cost lodges in the area bear the name of famous characters like Baloo and Mowgli. It was certainly the setting for many of the famous elephant-back tiger hunts of the Victorian era.

The reserve featured in the 2008 BBC Wildlife series Tiger : Spy in the Jungle, a three-part documentary narrated by Sir David Attenborough, in which concealed cameras were placed on elephants, in order to capture intimate tiger behaviour.

The reserve is centred on the Pench River, which runs north to south and divides the area into two halves. A substantial dam at the southern end creates a large lake, which is surrounded by hills which are covered in deciduous woodlands and bamboo thickets, with the occasional white-barked kulu (ghost) trees standing out against the verdant background. Areas of open grassland are only found between the high and low watermarks of the dam.

Pench may be best known for its tiger population (which numbers around 40 individuals), but in truth this is not ideal terrain for finding and observing these elusive creatures.

The reserve also contains a wide range of wildlife, with predators including Indian leopards, jungle cats, desert cats, striped hyenas, jackals, foxes, dholes (Asian wild dogs), mongooses and sloth bears.

Prey species include wild boars, gaurs, sambar deers, chital deers, muntjacs (barking deers), four-horned antelopes and blackbucks. Primates include southern plains gray langurs and rhesus macaques.

Other interesting sightings include flying squirrels.

There are over 285 recorded species of resident and migratory birds, including peafowls, junglefowls, crow pheasants, crimson-breasted barbets, red-vented bulbuls, racket-tailed drongos, Indian rollers, magpie robins, lesser-whistling teals, pintails, shovellers, egrets, herons, minivets, orioles, wagtails, munias, mynas, common kingfishers, Indian pittas, Malabar pied hornbills, grey-headed fishing eagles, ospreys, white-eyed buzzards, bar-headed geese, Brahmini ducks and pochards.

Pench is a relatively little-known reserve and attracts lower visitor numbers, which can make it a more attractive option during peak season months. Nevertheless, vehicle traffic inside the reserve during high season can be unpleasantly high, with serious clustering around major sightings. Traffic avoidance measures are strongly advised.

Unusually walking safari and night vehicle safari are sometimes possible within the reserve.

It is worth pointing out that Pench can get very busy at weekends (Sat-Sun) due to its proximity to the city of Nagpur. The reserve, in common with all in Madhya Pradesh, is closed on Wednesday afternoons.

The best time of year to visit the Pench area is generally considered to be during Oct-Jun, although there are considerable climatic variations over that period.

During October the daytime temperatures usually rise to around 25C/77F, whilst the nighttime low temperatures hold up around 12C/54F. However the rainfall is much lower, dropping to around 50mm (2”) per month. Sunshine is around 8 hours per day (around 75% of daylight hours), meaning that skies are usually clear. At this time of the year the national park is lush and green, with water-filled streams. The green backgrounds provide great contrast for wildlife photography, but the long-grasses can be a major impediment to actually finding the animals.

During Nov-Jan the daytime temperatures usually rise to around 25C/77F, whilst the nighttime low temperatures plunge to around -3C/27F. There should be very little rainfall. Sunshine is around 8 hours per day (around 80% of daylight hours), meaning that skies are usually clear. At this time of the year the national park is still relatively lush and green, with enough humidity in the air for great polarised photography. However, the long-grasses can remain a significant impediment to actually finding the animals. Obviously the morning safaris can be very cold and you should bring suitable clothing.

During Feb-Mar the daytime temperatures can climb steeply to around 34C/93F, whilst the nighttime low temperatures manage to drop to a comfortable 12C/54F. There should be very little rainfall. Sunshine is around 9 hours per day (around 75% of daylight hours), meaning that skies are usually clear. At this time of the year the national park is still surprisingly lush, although the grasses should have died back sufficiently to make wildlife viewing a little easier. However there should still be lots of flowers and fresh leaves around, with beautiful fragrances in the air.

During Apr-Jun the daytime temperatures can climb very steeply to around 42C/108F, whilst the nighttime low temperatures manage to drop to a reasonably comfortable 18C/64F. There should be very little rainfall up to June, when there can be 100mm (4”) over the course of the month. Sunshine is around 9 hours per day (around 70% of daylight hours), meaning that skies are usually clear, but this drops in June to 6 hours per day (45% of daylight hours) as the monsoon clouds gather. At this time of the year the national park is relatively dry, the long grasses should all have died back and the visibility for wildlife viewing should be really good. Additionally the animals tend to cluster around the few remaining water sources. Clearly the temperatures are an issue, as is the increased number of insects, repellent is strongly recommended.

During Jul-Sep, the national park closes, usually mid-June to mid-October, due to the very high monsoon rainfall, which typically leaps to over 500mm (20”) per month. Naturally the lodges all tend to close as well, so visiting during this period is really not an option.

Getting there

The Pench area can be accessed in a number of different ways…

By air

The closest airports and their most common connections are…

• Jabalpur : 175km to the north : Delhi, Agra
• Nagpur : 75km to the southwest : Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Bangalore, Doha

By luxury train

The Pench area is visited by the following luxury live-aboard train itineraries…

Train : Deccan Odyssey

• Maharashtra Wild Trail : 7 nights : Mumbai to Mumbai

By train

The closest train stations and their most common connections are…

• Jabalpur : 175km to the north : Delhi
• Nagpur : 75km to the southwest : Mumbai, Pune

By road

The area is rarely reached by road, since the distances are so large. However, having arrived in this part of India, exploring by road is quite popular, often combining some or all of the main national parks of Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Pench and Satpura.

Where to stay

The reserve has two points of entry, Karmajhiri Gate in the northeast and Turiya Gate in the southeast. There is a cluster of accommodation options outside these two gates, with the latter being the slightly more remote and less busy.

combines with Bandhavgarh and Kanha